Central Texas survivors, local advocates raise breast cancer awareness

Survivors say support shouldn’t stop after October, and a Temple event aims to connect residents with doctors.

TEMPLE, Texas — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and survivors and advocacy groups in Central Texas are working to educate the community about prevention and show people how to support those fighting the disease.

Della Perry was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2021 after she found a small lump in her breast. She had a double mastectomy, and doctors later found the disease had spread.

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“They went in and found that the cancer had traveled to my lymph nodes in my arm, and so that gave me another surgery,” Perry said.

Julie Moser’s story began when she noticed three lumps. She also had a double mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy and reconstruction. She said the chemotherapy was one of her biggest challenges.

“I got really sick, like deathly ill,” Moser said. “I even said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to do this. Like I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to die like this.'”

Moser survived the cancer, but her fight did not end there. Seven years later, she found another lump.

“It felt very familiar and very scary,” she said. “I think the oncologist was just as surprised as I was that at year seven, this small little thing on the scar line that we thought was hardened fat turned out to be cancer again.”

Moser is now a two-time breast cancer survivor, 13 years after her first diagnosis and six years after her second. She said she still struggles with long-term effects of the disease, and some days it is difficult to get out of bed.

“Just because we may be reconstructed, just because our hair might have grown back, just because we’re back out in public more, doesn’t mean that we’re still not silently suffering,” Moser said.

Perry said she knows that experience well.

“I think a lot of people think that we’re going back to our normal life,” Perry said. “There’s no normal life for us.”

Both women are using their stories to help others, including through Moser’s nonprofit, Pink Warrior Angels, which provides emotional support and financial aid to patients and families.

“It takes a village to go through this, so don’t isolate yourself,” Perry said. “Reach out when you know that you need help, when you need prayers for someone else.”

Temple NAACP event

Pink Warrior Angels is not the only group stepping up. The Temple branch of the NAACP will host a breast cancer awareness event called “Step Into Wellness” from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Temple College Pavilion.

The event will feature guest speaker Dr. Stella Amaechi, a hematologist and oncologist with Baylor Scott & White, as well as line dancing.

Organizer Debbie Evans said cancer research has come a long way, but many people have still been lost to the disease.

“The more we know, the more we can share and spread about prevention and awareness and how we can support each other or others who are going through the disease,” Evans said.

She said the event is a chance to connect people with doctors and help them learn more about cancer. Vendors, including Baylor Scott & White, will offer blood pressure checks.

“You never know who, whether they’re dealing with cancer or not, if you have some information that you’ve learned at this event and you just happen to come across someone that says, ‘I need help,’ now you’ve got a pearl of wisdom that you can share with that person,” Evans said.

Support year-round

Survivors say awareness and support matter all year, not just in October.

“People in general, whether it’s cancer or not, need to be kind,” Moser said. “That’s one thing. And then two is asking your friend or person, ‘How can I support you best?’ Treat them like they’re normal. We want to be treated normally. We don’t want to be looked at like we’re dying.”

The American Cancer Society estimates about 321,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S. in 2026, and 42,140 women will die from the disease.

Perry said it’s important for people to know they are not alone. She wants others to know that if she can make it through, so can they.

“Cancer is not for the weak,” Perry said. “It is not for the weak, but know that other people are either going through what you went through or about to go through it.”